From the all the times and family I had in Atlanta, you will probably need to see where you want to live first. Real estate and the rental market vary greatly around Atlanta metro. And then with rush hour traffic, you don't want to live too far between your home and work. Unless you commute on MARTA. No sense of waiting in traffic on SpaghettiJunction #I285FromHell
North Atlanta, Buckhead, Marietta, Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area will have the higher end volume stores. Conyers and Lawreneceville are growing areas.